Carries Book Reviews

Into The Skies
ClareMarie
(The Shadows Trilogy 0.5)
Publication date: Fall 2017
Genres: Adult, Paranormal

Blurb for Into The Skies (The Shadows Trilogy 0.5)

A prequel for the Novel Into The Shadows by author ClareMarie.

You know my future daughter’s story. Now, here’s mine. My name is Ariana Dale, and I’ve been keeping a secret.

A past is revealed.

It all started when I was a sixteen-year-old student at the Paranormal Sky Academy (PSA). I got a glimpse of the year 3000, and now, I must protect my daughter from it. Luckily, I prepared for this very moment.

A truth is discovered.

A new paranormal species is to be created, thanks to be my beautiful girl. Unbeknownst to her, there are many who want to prevent that from happening. My quest to save her reveals an alarming connection.

A danger is coming.

Paths will be forged. Lines will be crossed. Destiny will be set in motion. Scroll up to read why The Skies came before The Shadows and how that will change the future.

“We are known as Paranormals to the world, but we were previously called The Gifted.”

All set in year 2065.

The complete series:

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Author Bio:

Paranormal and Contemporary Romance Author. The Author of The Shadows Trilogy & The Rockstar Alliance, & More.

Message from ClareMarie

“I love to write books and create song lyrics. I enjoy reading. I’m inspired by music, oh and I’m a Libra too.”

ClareMarie’s publication of The Shadows Trilogy has just begun. This is expected to be an anticipated work as it brings in a new voice to the world of fantasy literature. The books are being presented by an exciting new figure that will entertain all sorts of people who are interested in surprising stories of all kinds.

ClareMarie released her debut novel on November 10, 2016. Her second book will soon follow. Each book is more than four hundred pages of surprising and intense romantic interludes.

ClareMarie’s first novel, Into The Shadows, is a series that takes place far off in the future, specifically in the year 3000. The story is about a group of people known as Paranormals who live among other humans. These are people who are immortal and have many amazing superhuman powers. While these people want to live their lives in peace, a government has abducted them in the hopes of studying these people and reviewing more about their powers and what makes them unique.

The story focuses on Ava James, a woman who was raised to believe all her life that she is human. But soon she discovers that she is not a human but rather a Paranormal. This leads her into a tailspin as she has to find a way to survive amid the pressures that are being imposed onto her.

ClareMarie has expressed a very strong interest in writing over the years and that interest clearly shows in her work on this book. She is a native of England who currently resides in Galway, Ireland and has been writing since she was around fourteen years of age. She started out as a songwriter and eventually built more of a passion for writing.

The Shadows Trilogy is her first endeavor into the world of literature. She is excited to share her amazing voice with the world.

ClareMarie does not show any real signs of slowing down either. She will be releasing another series of books, The Rockstar Alliance Series, in the near future. Until

then, people will have The Shadows Trilogy to check out when looking for entertaining paranormal and romantic stories that take them to different worlds.

ClareMarie’s books can be found at most retailers and all information can be found at her website.

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The Boy I Hate
Taylor Sullivan
Publication date: August 12th 2017
Genres: New Adult, Romance

Samantha Smiles and Renee Montgomery have been best friends for over a decade. They’ve shared laughs, secrets, and a mutual hatred for one person: Tristan Montgomery, Renee’s older brother. He was the guy every girl wanted, and every guy wanted to be, and it wasn’t uncommon they’d befriend his little sister just to get closer to him. Which was exactly how Samantha became Renee’s saving grace. She was the only girl Renee could trust not to fall in love with her older brother.

Until the one night Samantha spent with him alone, leaving her questioning everything she’d ever known about the blond headed heart-throb.

Years later, Renee asks Samantha to be her maid of honor. With no other option, Samantha is forced to drive cross-country with the focus of their teenage ire.

He was her first kiss.

Her only secret.

Can Samantha survive the trip cross-country with the reckless Tristan Montgomery? The guy who did what he wanted, whenever he wanted, without worry for tomorrow? Or will she discover a different side of him. One that’s sweet, funny, and maybe a little bit vulnerable. And fall completely and helplessly in love for the first time in her adult life with the one man who could cause her to lose her best friend forever?

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EXCERPT:

She looked down to the parking lot, seeing his Mustang still parked below, and knew she was about to lose it. She headed for her own room, placed the breakfast on the nearby table, then rid of every last drop of patience, began pounding on Tristan’s door.

“Wake up you lazy bastard! Wake up, or I swear to God I’ll beat this door down with my fists.”

A large boom sounded from inside the room, and Samantha smiled with satisfaction as she continued to pound. “That’s right,” she whispered. “Get up you lazy ass—”

But before she could finish her sentence, the door was yanked out from under her. She stumbled forward, barely able to catch her footing, and slammed face first into warm, solid, skin.

She froze, because the glimpse she caught on the way down wasn’t one she ever thought she’d see. It was a very large, very bare, and very “Good morning” version of Tristan Montgomery.

“Please tell me you’re not naked,” she whispered, but it was mostly to herself, because she didn’t really need him to answer. She squeezed her eyes shut, took one step backward, and turned around.

They both stood there, quiet and still, and she tried to recover her heart. The sight of Tristan in nothing more than his birthday suit left her feeling dizzy. She’d seen many naked men in her days, though until now, the only one she’d seen in person was Steven. Especially this close up.

“Well?” he finally asked, when she remained silent.

Well? Well… Tristan was much…larger than Steven. Much larger in every way imaginable.

She cleared her throat, knowing her voice would’ve cracked otherwise. “It’s ten in the morning,” she answered with more confidence than she felt.

“And?” But his voice was thick and husky, and she could swear he was having as difficult a time recovering as she was.

“It’s time to go.”

“Is it?”

“Yes,” she said, hating how the tone of his voice sent a shiver down her spine. “And you should really put some clothes on. The people of Utah don’t want to see…that.”

He chuckled, but shifted slightly behind her. “Hate to break it to you sweetheart, but a lot of people want to see that.”

She cringed, because she knew it was true. Like in high school, she knew women lined up to catch the barest glimpse of Tristan.

He moved quietly behind her, his steps so soft you’d never know they came from a man of his size. “You can turn around now.”

She raked her teeth over her bottom lip, taking the very corner and chewing it before turning to face him. He still had no shirt on, his feet were bare, but he wore a pair of old gray sweats resting so low on his hips you could tell he wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

“Aren’t you freezing?” she asked, feeling a shiver run through her own body.

“No,” he said, leaning against the doorway and crossing his feet at the ankles. A tiny grin teased at the corner of his mouth, and she knew he was having too much fun at her expense.

She turned toward the Mustang, not attempting to hide her irritation. “I brought you breakfast,” she said quickly.

“That’s nice of you.”

“It’s not nice. Just my way of getting your lazy ass out of bed.”

He threw his head back with laughter. “Are you always this pleasant in the morning?”

Pressing her lips together, she wasn’t about to let him to pull her into another argument. “We need to go,” she said, turning on her heels and opening the door to her room.

She walked inside, hoping the action would give him the hint to do the same. “I’ll have your breakfast waiting for you in the car.” But before she closed the door, she could swear she caught him smiling.

“My God.” she whispered, resting her forehead against the wall, taking in all the air she’d forgotten to take over the last two minutes. “Three more days. Just three more days of Tristan Montgomery.” She repeated the last words over and over, gathered up the rest of her belongings, and headed for the car.

Author Bio:

Taylor is mom of three young (or not so young) children she loves more than life. She runs them around endlessly, hoping she looks presentable enough to be out in public, and day dreams about fictional characters. Maybe she’s crazy, or maybe she craves the barbie games she played as a little girl a little too much, but that’s where her stories are born. It’s where they blossom, and grow, and eventually breath life on the page of her stories.

She’d love to hear from you. (Or I’d love to hear from you. I wrote this in 3rd person to sound cooler)

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Red and her Wolfe
Blythe Reid
Publication date: August 8th 2017
Genres: Adult, Romance

They call me The Wolfe.

I hunt women the way a wolf hunts lambs.

And I just found my latest prey. She’s a long way from home. We meet on the plane. And there’s nothing as vulnerable as a girl who’s homesick after her first trip abroad.

The girls I’m used to want my money and my looks.

This girl is too innocent for either of those things.

She wants me because of the way we lock eyes. The way we instantly hit it off. The way we seem to have been made for each other.

And I want her because I’m The Wolfe.

I hunt innocent young women like her.

It’s what I do.

#Hot #Sexy #Alpha

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EXCERPT:

My feet were curled beneath me as I leaned back against my pillows. I opened my book to the marked page and smiled to myself. With my schoolwork and chores, I couldn’t read as much as I wished. It had been almost two weeks since I last opened Flames of Sorrow.

No one understood my love for romance novels, but I was obsessed. They were my one escape, my way of stepping away from reality. When I read, I believed in soul mates and passionate love. I could experience exciting things through the characters in these books.

Flames of Sorrow was about a couple who were doomed to spend eternity apart. They were both immortal and therefore, destined to live forever. The only negative was

that they could never be together. If they so much as looked at each other, they each began to develop a horrible illness.

Still, they managed to spend one day together every five years. If they kept their time together limited, they wouldn’t get sick. One day was never enough, but it was all they had. They were willing to risk everything simply to be together. I’d read Flames of Sorrow many times before, but I always came back to it. To me, it embodied the definition of true love. They loved each other with a passion I’d never known. Plus, the sex scenes were amazing.

I found myself hiding in my room late at night, reading the scenes to myself, imagining what it would feel like to act them out with a man. I knew it was just a fantasy, something I could only dream about enjoying one day. Still, it was my fantasy, and it got me through my mundane life.

As I read, I lost myself in the pages. I became Annabella, faithfully waiting for Diego to find his way back to me. I was her and she was me. In those moments, I became one with my book, and I loved every single second of it. Until my mother entered my room without knocking and pulled me back to reality with a painful thump. I jumped, shutting the book quickly and looking at her attentively. My nerves were immediately on edge. My mother didn’t approve of my extracurricular activities, and she made her opinions known every chance she got. “Scarlet,” Mom said, shaking her head. “Why on Earth are you wasting your time with this nonsense?”

“I like it,” I said with a shrug. Her disapproval bothered me, but I tucked the book under my pillow all the same. If it was out of sight, she would forget about it quickly.

Claire Timms was not your typical mother. She was more protective than anyone else in the world. Having been homeschooled most of my life, I was ecstatic to start college, but my mother made sure I didn’t leave home. Instead, I attended the local college and took classes there.

I tried to persuade my mom to let me move into a dorm room, but she refused. She said it was too dangerous, that I would be exposed to horrible things. I didn’t know enough to argue with her, but deep down, I thought she was wrong. I saw the fun college students had, and I was desperate to partake. “You’ve read it a thousand times,” Mom said, rolling her eyes.

“Not that many,” I said. “Besides, I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t had time to read anything. Now that school’s over, I can finally enjoy myself again.” “You can,” she admitted with a nod. “Bu, you need to pick better ways to spend your time. Those novels just fill your head with all kinds of fantasies, Scarlet. They aren’t real. Men like that, they just don’t exist.” “Maybe they do,” I said softly. “Somewhere.”

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Murder Wears Mittens by Sally Goldenbaum
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cass Halloran has returned to the laundromat to retrieve her lobster nets from the dryer when she finds someone has decided to dry some children’s close in her load. Before she knows it a young boy enters the laundry to retrieve the clothes and Cass becomes concerned with why he is alone. Cass can’t help but continue to worry and when she shares the encounter with the other Seaside Knitters the ladies decide to check on the boy.

When the group finds the boy along with his sister alone they do their best to reunite the children with their mother and think their job is done with the good deed. But then the body of Dolores Cardozo, a local recluse, is discovered and not only the mother of the children but even one of their own seem to have ties to Dolores so the group find themselves trying to uncover a murderer.

Opening up Murder Wears Mittens I became concerned when the first thing I see is a long list of characters that would be included letting the reader know who was who. I always cringe when I see something of this nature thinking the story should introduce me to whoever is in the book and get to know them so if this is needed then perhaps I won’t enjoy the book. However, in this case it seems that these characters have been around for quite a while for this author with eleven other books in the A Seaside Knitters Mystery series. I was under the impression when I picked this one up that it was a brand new series, the Seaside Knitters Society, but this wasn’t the case.

My rating on Murder Wears Mittens is basically due to the fact that jumping this far into an ongoing series leaves me feeling that I’ve missed a connection to the characters. The story was an alright cozy read it just didn’t grab me as I would have liked and I believe if maybe I’d been reading and getting to know these characters from the beginning I would have been more connected to them with so many involved in the book. I may even try to eventually go back and read about these ladies from the beginning as it seems like it would be a nice small town cozy if I felt I could get to know them better in earlier reads.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Crescent Calling
Axelle Chandler
(The Crescent Witch Chronicles #1)
Publication date: August 9th 2017
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Skye Williams is an ordinary woman, living an ordinary life.

Or so she thought.

When she receives news of her estranged mother’s death, she must go to Ireland to claim her inheritance, but when she arrives in the tiny village of Derrydun, she isn’t prepared for what she finds nestled amongst the rolling hills of the Emerald Isle.

Lumped with a funeral, her mother’s crystal shop, a moody goth girl for an employee, and a crumbling cottage with horrible floral curtains, selling up and getting out sounds like a great plan, but everything and everyone seems determined to keep her from going home.

Skye doesn’t want any part of her mother’s life or the people of Derrydun until she sees the hot Irishman she’s been crushing on turn into a fox.

More absurdly, he tells her her dead mother was a witch who battled evil fairies, there’s magical trees growing in the centre of the village, there’s a parallel universe where the fair folk live, and she’s meant to be the last defense of the magical peoples of Ireland.

Turns out Skye Williams was never an ordinary woman. Not by a long shot.

She’s the last Crescent Witch and has a destiny to fulfil.

Whether she likes it or not.

The Crescent Witch Chronicles is a series stuffed full of Irish charm, myth and mayhem. Come on an adventure fraught with danger and forbidden romance…and the ultimate battle to save magic before it’s gone forever.

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EXCERPT:

That night, as Buddy kept me company, I fell asleep to the sound of wind howling through the trees outside. Plagued with dreams of wolves, I tossed and turned until I slipped into a deep slumber.

When dawn finally broke, I was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, and my head was stuffed with cotton wool. I’d slept but not really. A heavy burden was over my heart, and my body had become twisted in the quilt, my feet trapped.

Ugh, I was all hot and sticky. I kicked, trying to shift the uncomfortable weight and turned over, but it didn’t budge. Lifting my head, my eyes cracked open, sleep still clogging my head. That was when I saw a lump at the end of the bed. A very large, man-shaped lump.

Now completely awake, I screamed, scrambling up the bed. It was Boone. A very naked Boone.

He started, his head shooting up, and when he saw me, he rolled and fell off the end of the bed, hitting the floor with a thud. Scrambling to his feet, his face turned a deep shade of crimson.

“Oh, shit,” he cursed, covering his junk with his hands. “Oh, cac.”

“Cac?” I yelled. “I’ll give you bloody Irish cac!”

Grabbing the lamp on the bedside table, I pushed up onto my knees and swung it with all my might. The plug popped out of the wall, and the shade barely missed Boone’s face, but the cord came around and whipped him directly on his bare ass.

He howled in pain and retreated across the room.

“Pervert!” I shrieked.

“Let me explain,” he said, holding up his hands and leaving nothing to the imagination.

“Explain? What’s there to explain?” I shouted, trying not to look at his you-know-what. “You were asleep on the end of my bed…naked!” I swung the lamp at him again, barely missing his head. “You’re still standing there. I can see your meat and two veg!”

“Oh, cac,” he said again. “I didn’t mean for you to find out this way…”

“Find out what? That you’re a pervert, who sneaks into women’s homes butt naked?”

Author Bio:

Axelle Chandler is an Australian Urban Fantasy author. She lives in the western suburbs of Melbourne dreaming up nail biting stories featuring bad-ass witches, hunky shape shifters and devious monsters. She likes chocolate, cat memes and video games. When she’s not writing, she likes to think of what she’s writing next.

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